Wednesday, October 12, 2016

A convoy of cars made the 186 mile drive from Rotherham to Rainham this week, with the only emissions being water.

The Hydrogen Rally was organised by ITM Power, the Sheffield-based energy storage and clean fuel company, to demonstrate the advances being made to create a hydrogen refuelling station network in the UK for the use by new technology vehicles from the likes of Toyota and Hyundai.

Originally funded by Innovate UK, the hydrogen refuelling station is located at the Hydrogen Mini Grid at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham. It consists of a 225kW wind turbine coupled directly to an electrolyser, 220kg of hydrogen storage, a hydrogen dispensing unit and a 30kW fuel cell system capable of providing backup power generation for nearby buildings.

It is one of only a handful of places in the UK where pioneering hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can be refuelled and is unique in that the energy stored in the grid is created by wind power, which means that the vehicles it powers will not contribute to carbon dioxide emissions.

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The M1 refuelling station was recently upgraded by ITM to the higher pressure of 700 bar which satisfies the requirements of a broader range of vehicles and enables fuel cell electric vehicles such at the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix35 to achieve their full driving range of over 300 miles. A second rally commenced at ITM Power's hydrogen station in Teddington, West London.

The network is expanding and the rally ended at the latest of ITM Power's refuelling stations at the Centre of Engineering Manufacturing Excellence CEME in Rainham, East London, which is the first of its kind using solar energy from a solar PV array at CEME to make renewable hydrogen on-site.

The sites are part of the pan European HyFive project, which was funded by the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCHJU) and the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). In total 11 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) took part, provided by automotive OEMs: Toyota, Hyundai and Symbio FCell Renault and vehicle owners JCB, Anglo American, Johnson Matthey, Green Tomato Cars and ITM Power.

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO at ITM Power, said: "We are extremely pleased to have launched the second of the company's HyFive hydrogen refuelling stations in London providing a link across the city for a range of hydrogen vehicles now available from the auto OEMs. The hydrogen rally was a great way of demonstrating the benefits of these vehicles for both longer commutes and throughout the city. ITM Power is grateful for the co-operation of our HyFive partners and for the funding support of FCHJU and OLEV."